The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-01-30
DRAMATIC AND LYRIC.
- iE
Gilbert and Sullivan's Opera,
RuddygOre..
FULL OUTLINE OF THE PLOT.
master-Won at Last
Notes.

bert and Sullivan, was enthusiastically
received on its first production at tht
Savoy Theatre.
Ruddygore is the name of the ances-
trail estate of the bad baronet of the
piece. The curse refers to ban in
ficted on the first one by witch be
burned in the days of James l., an in
cident similar to one in well-knOwn
American novel laid in the time of Cot
ton Mather. 1t runs thus:
Once on q village green palsied bag he
roasted,
And what took place, I ween, shook his
compOsure boosted.
| For as the torture grim
| Seized on each Withered limb
The writing dame, mid fire and flame,
! Yelled forth this curse on him:
Each Lord of Ruddygore, despite his best
endeavor.
Shall do one crime, or more, once every day
| forever.
This doom he can't defy,
! However he maytry
| FOR should he stay
| His hand, that day
In torture he shall die
The Savoy was suffocatingly crowded.
! The gallery people seemed TO rest on
the ceiling like flies, yet no seats for a
! first night at the Savoy are sold save in
4 the pit and gallery. I was assured at
| the principal box-officein the city that
such was the curiosity that it could
alone have sold 1000 stalls, when there
are only in the house ITO.
THE PLAY.
The curtain rose, like in Billee Taylor,
on fishing village on the Cornwall
coast, with the sea in perspective. On
one side was the cottage of the heroine,
Rose Maybud (Leonora Braham, So
prano).
The scene opens to a chorus of profes-
! sional bridesmaids, in short, figured
muslin gowns, with old-fashioned
waists, who have been waiting six
snths for the wedding. This chorus.
one of the most charming in the piece,
| is a graceful movement which forms a
connecting knot, as it were, of the
musical threads OF the first act. Zorah
(Miss Flndlay, contralto), as bride
maid, interrupts with a solo, which is
unimportant. Hannah miss Brandron,
contralto), next sings the legend of the
curse, two verses of which have lust
been quoted. The music in this is I'M
| equal. but the curse assumes and is
! given with dramatic power, but it was
not encored. Then enters Rose, the
intended bride, who, holding a book
upon etiquette, sings a ballad begin
ming:
II somebody there CHANGED to be who loved
me in manner true,
My heart would point him out to me and I
would DOlQt him ont To
THE HERO Of THE PLAY.
The words throughout are common
place, and the epng fell fat; for while
the melody is Catching, the music is
not especially original. The music
seemed too high for the singer. and the
effort may be said to have fallen fat.
Soon there enters her intended hus-
band. Robin Oakapple, timid youth
in drab, with smooth locks, played By
George Grossmith, but the character is
ll-suited to him. He is masQuerading
as a peasant, as did the son of the
Mikado, although he is the rightful
bsronet. The happy pair indulge in
duet, which delineates Robins bashful-
ness'and Roses coquetteTies. In this
the music is weak, but the acting was
excellent and the pair were encored.
This is followed by chorus of bride
maids announcing the tenor, Richard
Foster, Robins foster brother, the part
being played by Outward Lely. He
sang a stirring British sailor ballad
descriptive of his frigate beating a |
French one. This appealing to the |
patriotism of the house, and especially |
to that of the gallery, it became enthu- |
siastic. At the end of the ballad Lely |
danced a sort of a clog dance, decidedly |
more graceful and pleasing than those |
generally seen in music halls. The |
bridesmaids made good business by |
beating time with their heads as they |
grouped about Lely, not unlike the |
maiden chorus IN the Mikado, where |
the fans keep time. 81 la
Robin next sang a patter song, |
fun of mis- own timidity, with |
refrain:
If you wish in the world to advance
You must stir it and stump it and blow your
Or trust me, YOU haven't chance. |
It was encored on account of Gros-
smiths acting, for the music is common !
place and not up TO Sullivan's usual |
form. Next was pleasing coqUetted /
ioxe duet between Richard and Rose, |
which is pleasing but not especially !
original. After this is q somewhat |
taking chorus of bridesmaids.
THE OLD WITCH.
At the end of this scene the interest,
now tagging, was revived by the en-
trance of Mad Margaret Jesse Bond,
who, burlesquing Ophelia's madness
much as the business wss done in
PoOle's Hamlet trsvest1e-was intro
duced by expressive. weird music from
flutes alone. Sullivan's orches 5ral
music here is much stronger, as it is,
indeed, throughout the opera, than his
vocal. Margaret sings a scena begin
ming:
q hncrilr- Isl h. L.